Umesha Weerakkody1, Emeline Jerez1
1 The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
As one of the most popular international student destinations, Australia has been experiencing an influx of international students in recent times. With the inflow of higher numbers of students, emerges concerns about meeting quality requirements, especially in relation to the success of international students experience in the host country. Taking international student success as its point of convergence, this paper looks at how different quality assurance mechanisms implemented in Australia contribute to international student success. To this end, the first half of the paper reviews the context of international student growth in Australia and discusses aspects of student success in relation to international students and their unique circumstances. In the second half, Australian quality assurance mechanisms, in different stages from strategy to monitoring and consequent improvement are analysed to understand in what specific ways they enhance international student success. The paper concludes by pointing towards recommendations to facilitate further enhancement of main quality instruments to ensure international student success.
Biography:
Umesha Weerakkody
Umesha Weerakkody is a current doctoral scholar at the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia. A Fulbright Scholar and a former lecturer in the Sri Lankan university system, her research interests include international student mobility, critical globalization studies, higher education in developing countries, and social stratification of education in the globalized third world.
Emeline Jerez
Emeline Jerez has been active in the field of higher education for more than a decade. She is currently a Doctoral Scholar at the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne, Australia. Her relevant experience includes working as a researcher and analyst, as well as holding executive positions in Chilean higher education. Emeline’s research interests in higher education are in the areas of policy, management, comparative analysis, quality and internationalization.